Too date, medical research has been a bit vague about what is too much exercise and whether it is risky.

Dr James O'Keefe from St Luke's Hospital (USA) Kansas has published some research thatclarifies things:

Physical exercise, though not a drug, possesses many traits of a powerful pharmacologic agent. A routine of daily physical activity can be highly effective for prevention and treatment of many diseases, including coronary heart disease, hypertension, heart failure, and obesity," says lead author James H. O'Keefe, MD, of Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City, MO. "However, as with any pharmacologic agent, a safe upper dose limit potentially exists, beyond which the adverse effects of physical exercise, such as musculoskeletal trauma and cardiovascular stress, may outweigh its benefits

Endurance sports such as ultramarathon running or professional cycling have been associated with a five-fold increase in the prevalence of atrial fibrillation, or abnormal heart rhythms....Extreme exercise is not really conducive to great cardiovascular health. Beyond 30-60 minutes per day, you reach a point of diminishing return

I'd average a couple of hours every second day, but this has got me wondering - would it be smarter to back-off to something under an hour a day ?

Cheers

WombatK

Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us -Jerry Garcia

AF is absolutely a risk factor of higher intensity cardio exercise in those over 30-35. However, I think more studies need to be done to rule out multiple risk factors. i.e. history of being overweight, then using exercise to lose that weight.stress levelscaffeine sensitivitysleep qualitydietBPlow grade inflammationfamily history etcetc

I have tried the Les Mills Body Attack class, and kept it up for a few months before it started doing naughty things to my knees. Those classes were for 45min. I don't ride long distances, but do do 1-2hr sessions, and they are nowhere near that level of intensity. I would say that in total, a 1 1/2 - 2hr ride would roughly be the equivalent of say a 1hr high intensity cardio session like aerobics or a run perhaps. Riding you get a lot of breaks like going downhill, etc. If you ride in bunches, you get more breaks, thus reducing the intensity.

I've got a hypothesis (totally untested) that the main problem that leads to these heart issues in 'endurance athletes' is people trying to train through illness.

I reckon that too many of us all try and be 'hard' and push through colds, viruses, etc, and keep up training volumes and intensity. And for those unlucky ones who are already predisposed to heart issues, this can cause some serious damage.

I'm a big fan of just letting training go when you are sick. It can be hard at times - I know I'm on my 10th day off the bike after getting sick on a work trip to Canberra, and my season goal of the Avanti Classic is less than 3 weeks away. The temptation is strong to jump on the bike, HTFU, and get some k's into the legs.

But if you can keep your long-term view in focus it makes total sense. I figure I still want to be cycling centuries and even racing in 10, 20, 30 years time. In the context of that, a couple of weeks lost to illness here and there is not even a drop in the ocean, and is hardly worth risking long-term damage for...

The studies and stats relate to PROFESSIONAL sports, not commuters/amateur, none of us is doing 20+ hours a week of solid REAL training. 300+ members in the ACT vets club, I've been a member for 3+ years, nil cases of atrial fib. in an event. One former member in his late 70's/ early 80's literally dropped dead last year from a heart attack just after returning from a ride, but that can happen to anyone.

The rule-of-thumb for training is that if you are doing less than 10 hours a week, you aren't doing enought to maintain a solid aerobic base, once you drop down to 7 hours a week you have to concentrate on intensive intervals to maintain a decent level of fitness.

Ultra marathon and professional cyclist doesn't mean many people here like Twiz says... I am not worried in the 10-15 hours hard riding a week... And I do have heart issues... Which reminds me it is time for another scan .

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